Iraqi immigrant, 36, who said he was gay to claim asylum in Austria is jailed for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl at a swimming pool
[h=1]Police investigating after 26 women say they were sexually assaulted at German music festival[/h]
[h=1]Police investigating after 26 women say they were sexually assaulted at German music festival[/h]
A thief is maimed for life by ISIS thugs who chop off his hand with cleaver... while six men are executed for selling cigarettes
Gruesome pictures show a man's hand being held on a surface in front of a crowd in a city in Syria while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist. The man carrying out the punishment uses a heavy metal bar to strike down on top of the blade and slice off the victim's hand. The images, the latest to show the depravity of
[h=1]A thief is maimed for life by ISIS thugs who chop off his hand with cleaver... while six men are executed for selling cigarettes[/h]
Gruesome pictures show a man's hand being held on a surface in front of a crowd in a city in Syria while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist.
The man carrying out the punishment uses a heavy metal bar to strike down on top of the blade and slice off the victim's hand.
+3
Gruesome pictures show a man's hand being held on a surface in front of a crowd in a city in Syria while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist
+3
The man carrying out the punishment uses a heavy metal bar to strike down on top of the blade and slice off the victim's hand
The images, the latest to show the depravity of the terror group's regime, were released as it emerged six men had been executed in Mosul, Iraq - for selling cigarettes.
Activists revealed that the men were arrested for flouting ISIS rules which bar the selling or smoking of cigarettes.
According to ABNA, a media activist in the city said: 'The ISIS-led Islamic Police of Hisba arrested six men in Mosul on charges of selling cigarettes.
+3
The punishment was carried out in front of crowds in a city in Syria. It came as it emerged six had been executed in Iraq for selling cigarettes
'They were then referred to the Sharia Court which ordered their immediate execution on Wednesday on charges of violating the rules imposed by their alleged Caliphate.'
The website reports that the men were taken to a square in central Mosul before being executed by firing squad in public.
The source added: 'Hundreds of people witnessed the brutal execution. The victim’s corpses were then moved to the al-Tib al-Adli hospital in Mosul.'
- Thief's hand is held on surface while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist
- Heavy metal bar is used to strike down on the blade and slice off his hand
- Comes as it emerges ISIS in Iraq executed six men for selling cigarettes
- They were killed by firing squad after being taken to public square in Mosul
Gruesome pictures show a man's hand being held on a surface in front of a crowd in a city in Syria while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist.
The man carrying out the punishment uses a heavy metal bar to strike down on top of the blade and slice off the victim's hand.
+3
Gruesome pictures show a man's hand being held on a surface in front of a crowd in a city in Syria while a cleaver is positioned on his wrist
+3
The man carrying out the punishment uses a heavy metal bar to strike down on top of the blade and slice off the victim's hand
The images, the latest to show the depravity of the terror group's regime, were released as it emerged six men had been executed in Mosul, Iraq - for selling cigarettes.
Activists revealed that the men were arrested for flouting ISIS rules which bar the selling or smoking of cigarettes.
According to ABNA, a media activist in the city said: 'The ISIS-led Islamic Police of Hisba arrested six men in Mosul on charges of selling cigarettes.
+3
The punishment was carried out in front of crowds in a city in Syria. It came as it emerged six had been executed in Iraq for selling cigarettes
'They were then referred to the Sharia Court which ordered their immediate execution on Wednesday on charges of violating the rules imposed by their alleged Caliphate.'
The website reports that the men were taken to a square in central Mosul before being executed by firing squad in public.
The source added: 'Hundreds of people witnessed the brutal execution. The victim’s corpses were then moved to the al-Tib al-Adli hospital in Mosul.'
[h=1]Islam training manual used in prisons includes a section on waging a holy war and 'teaches inmates to become jihadists'[/h]
PUBLISHED: 10:31, 3 June 2016 | UPDATED: 11:54, 3 June 2016
A manual of Islam used in British prisons teaches inmates about jihad and 'incites' them to wage holy war, it has been claimed.
The Tarbiyah (Islamic study) programme has a section on holy war and advises that taking up arms against the enemies of Allah is 'one of the noblest acts'.
Shaeikh Musa Admani has called for it to be removed because it 'incites' violence and helps convicted terrorists manipulate younger inmates towards extremism.
And the Ministry of Justice has refused to release the document to MailOnline due to 'security concerns', despite the fact it has been available in prisons since 2011.
They said they are investigating the issue and will publish a 'summary document' when it has been revised.
It comes amid claims that inmates in high-security jails have formed Islamic councils who administer sharia law and dole out physical punishment to other prisoners for actions they consider anti-Islam.
A former prison officer told the BBC that there were multiple occasions where prisoners feet were 'severely battered' during punishments, and Muslims have 'taken over' the law of some jails.
The recent scandal comes after another teaching course was removed last year after it emerged that it was written by extremists.
The Tarbiyah teaches inmates the difference between internal jihad, the struggle for improvement, and external, the fight against evil - but Admani says there is too much focus on fighting.
The document, seen by the BBC, reads: 'There may necessitate a time to pick up arms and physical [sic] fight such evil... It is one of the noblest acts.'
The statement in the manual, which was written by imams and Ahtsham Ali, an adviser to the Ministry of Justice, is followed by a section from the Koran.
There are currently 12,328 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales, which is 15 per cent of the prison population - and 131 were convicted of terrorist offences.
Mr Admani, an expert in interpreting Islamic texts, worries that it focuses on violence and could make prisoners more violent:
+3
The Tarbiyah (Islamic study) programme, used in prisons since 2011, has a section on holy war and advises that taking up arms against the enemies of Allah is 'one of the noblest acts'. Stock image
He told the BBC: 'This document sets out the steps and then addresses various forms of jihad and then goes on to emphasise a particular type ie. the killing and the fighting.
'It incites people to take up arms... It prepares people for violence. It could turn people when they come out of prison, supposedly rehabilitated, back into violence.
+3
Shaeikh Musa Admani has called for it to be removed because it 'incites' violence and helps convicted terrorists manipulate younger inmates
'It hinders all the aims that the Ministry of Justice might have to achieve peace and harmony. This document works against it, it doesn't add an iota to that good intention and they need to remove it as quickly as possible and then rehabilitate those who have learnt it.'
A spokesman added: 'Islamist extremism is one of the biggest threats facing this country. That is why the Justice Secretary commissioned the first ever review of Islamist extremism in prisons.
'As we have made clear, the report has been received and a summary document will be published in due course.
'The MoJ and NOMS are already taking forward urgent work in this area.'
A comes after a damning report is expected to claim that officers were being exploited by Islamic inmates who are aware staff are worried about losing their job due to racism complaints.
The independent review, commissioned by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, also recommended that prisoners convicted of terror offences be kept away from other Muslims in a specially designed blocks at high-security jails.
Experts believe this will stop the cons from meeting up with other non-militant inmates and using occasions such as Friday prayers as a chance to recruit them for their jihadi cause.
Publication of the review, conducted by former Home Office official Ian Acheson and to be released this month, was delayed by Government bosses over fears that it might have been toned down in order to detract criticism from National Offender Management Scheme (NOMS) staff.
Over 12,000 Muslims are behind bars in England and Wales with 130 of those serving terror related sentences, while Government officials believe that 1,000 could be vulnerable to radicalisation.
- Tarbiyah says taking up arms against 'evil' is one of the 'noblest acts'
- Shaeikh Musa Admani says it incites violence and aids terrorism growth
- Comes amid claims Muslim 'councils' administering Sharia law in prison
- Ministry of Justice refused to release document 'for security reasons'
PUBLISHED: 10:31, 3 June 2016 | UPDATED: 11:54, 3 June 2016
A manual of Islam used in British prisons teaches inmates about jihad and 'incites' them to wage holy war, it has been claimed.
The Tarbiyah (Islamic study) programme has a section on holy war and advises that taking up arms against the enemies of Allah is 'one of the noblest acts'.
Shaeikh Musa Admani has called for it to be removed because it 'incites' violence and helps convicted terrorists manipulate younger inmates towards extremism.
And the Ministry of Justice has refused to release the document to MailOnline due to 'security concerns', despite the fact it has been available in prisons since 2011.
They said they are investigating the issue and will publish a 'summary document' when it has been revised.
It comes amid claims that inmates in high-security jails have formed Islamic councils who administer sharia law and dole out physical punishment to other prisoners for actions they consider anti-Islam.
A former prison officer told the BBC that there were multiple occasions where prisoners feet were 'severely battered' during punishments, and Muslims have 'taken over' the law of some jails.
The recent scandal comes after another teaching course was removed last year after it emerged that it was written by extremists.
The Tarbiyah teaches inmates the difference between internal jihad, the struggle for improvement, and external, the fight against evil - but Admani says there is too much focus on fighting.
The document, seen by the BBC, reads: 'There may necessitate a time to pick up arms and physical [sic] fight such evil... It is one of the noblest acts.'
The statement in the manual, which was written by imams and Ahtsham Ali, an adviser to the Ministry of Justice, is followed by a section from the Koran.
There are currently 12,328 Muslim prisoners in England and Wales, which is 15 per cent of the prison population - and 131 were convicted of terrorist offences.
Mr Admani, an expert in interpreting Islamic texts, worries that it focuses on violence and could make prisoners more violent:
+3
The Tarbiyah (Islamic study) programme, used in prisons since 2011, has a section on holy war and advises that taking up arms against the enemies of Allah is 'one of the noblest acts'. Stock image
He told the BBC: 'This document sets out the steps and then addresses various forms of jihad and then goes on to emphasise a particular type ie. the killing and the fighting.
'It incites people to take up arms... It prepares people for violence. It could turn people when they come out of prison, supposedly rehabilitated, back into violence.
+3
Shaeikh Musa Admani has called for it to be removed because it 'incites' violence and helps convicted terrorists manipulate younger inmates
'It hinders all the aims that the Ministry of Justice might have to achieve peace and harmony. This document works against it, it doesn't add an iota to that good intention and they need to remove it as quickly as possible and then rehabilitate those who have learnt it.'
A spokesman added: 'Islamist extremism is one of the biggest threats facing this country. That is why the Justice Secretary commissioned the first ever review of Islamist extremism in prisons.
'As we have made clear, the report has been received and a summary document will be published in due course.
'The MoJ and NOMS are already taking forward urgent work in this area.'
A comes after a damning report is expected to claim that officers were being exploited by Islamic inmates who are aware staff are worried about losing their job due to racism complaints.
The independent review, commissioned by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, also recommended that prisoners convicted of terror offences be kept away from other Muslims in a specially designed blocks at high-security jails.
Experts believe this will stop the cons from meeting up with other non-militant inmates and using occasions such as Friday prayers as a chance to recruit them for their jihadi cause.
Publication of the review, conducted by former Home Office official Ian Acheson and to be released this month, was delayed by Government bosses over fears that it might have been toned down in order to detract criticism from National Offender Management Scheme (NOMS) staff.
Over 12,000 Muslims are behind bars in England and Wales with 130 of those serving terror related sentences, while Government officials believe that 1,000 could be vulnerable to radicalisation.
Andreas Meier/Reuters
MARLOW STERNRIGHT HOOK
06.04.16 1:56 AM ET
Muhammad Ali Knocked Trump’s Muslim Ban Before He Died
The late boxing legend, who passed away at 74, had strong words for Trump’s proposed Muslim ban. And Trump even once questioned whether America had Muslim sports heroes.
The late Muhammad Ali, who passed away Friday evening at the age of 74, was proudly, unapologetically black. He fought for the civil rights of African Americans, and famously refused to serve in the Vietnam War with the following ardent proclamation: “I ain’t got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me ******.”
He was also a devout Muslim and dedicated member of the Nation of Islam, having fallen under the tutelage of Malcolm X in 1962. When rumors began circulating that year that he’d joined the Nation of Islam, one of his bouts was nearly canceled, and when he officially joined in 1964, he had his boxing titles stripped from two organizations, including the WBA. Shortly thereafter, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad—who became a surrogate father to Ali—announced that the man formerly known as Cassius Clay would henceforth be “Muhammad Ali,” with “Muhammad” meaning “one who is worthy of praise” and Ali the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the fourth caliph. He later left the NOI after experiencing a falling out when Elijah Muhammad stepped down and, in 1975, converted to Sunni Islam (he later embraced Sufism).
In the wake of the deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by two ISIS-affiliated terrorists, presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on,” he announced in a campaign press release.
This was, of course, in the wake of other anti-Muslim comments Trump had made, including that he wanted American mosques to be surveilled, considered establishing a database monitoring all Muslims in the U.S., and his bogus claim that he saw “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating as the Twin Towers fell on 9/11 (then again, Trumpalso claimed he saw people jump from the Towers on 9/11 from a “view in my apartment that was specifically aimed at the World Trade Center,” even though he lives in midtown Manhattan, more than four miles from Ground Zero).
Ali, who was cordial with Trump in years past, and even gave him the Muhammad Ali award at his Celebrity Fight Night XIII in 2007, had strong words for the reality star turned politician’s proposed Muslim ban.
In a public statement titled, “Presidential Candidates Proposing to Ban Muslim Immigration to the United States,” the boxing legend reiterated his decades-long stance that Islam was a religion of peace, and that people, in this case Trump, should not be exploiting it for political points.
“We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda,” Ali said. “They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody.”
The sports and cultural icon further spoke out about how terrorists like those in Paris and San Bernardino have “perverted” the public’s views of Islam.
“Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is,” he said.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.”
During an Oval Office address in early December of last year following the San Bernardino attacks, President Obama spoke out against the widespread intolerance and bigotry against Muslims in America, saying, “Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors; our co-workers, our sports heroes—and yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.”
Obama’s address prompted conservative outlets like Breitbart to question whether America has sporting heroes who are Muslim, and presidential nominee Trump weighed in as well, questioning whether America has Muslim sports heroes by tweeting, “Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?”
Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
Obama said in his speech that Muslims are our sports heroes. What sport is he talking about, and who? Is Obama profiling?
12:50 AM - 7 Dec 2015
You know, the one you love to quote to sound tough.
MAGICAL NINJA
"Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name - it means beloved of God - and I insist people use it when speaking to me and of me.'"
"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark."
"It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up."
The Guesser
"Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad—who became a surrogate father to Ali—announced that the man formerly known as Cassius Clay would henceforth be “Muhammad Ali,” with “Muhammad” meaning “one who is worthy of praise”
Donald
The [FONT=arial, sans-serif]name Donald[/FONT] is a Scottish [FONT=arial, sans-serif]baby name[/FONT]. In Scottish the [FONT=arial, sans-serif]meaning[/FONT] of the [FONT=arial, sans-serif]name Donald is: Great chief, world mighty. From the Gaelic Domhnall. The [/FONT]name Donald has been borne by a number of early Scottish kings. Famous Bearers: Billionaire Donald Trump; actorDonald Sutherland.
"Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad—who became a surrogate father to Ali—announced that the man formerly known as Cassius Clay would henceforth be “Muhammad Ali,” with “Muhammad” meaning “one who is worthy of praise”
Donald
The [FONT=arial, sans-serif]name Donald[/FONT] is a Scottish [FONT=arial, sans-serif]baby name[/FONT]. In Scottish the [FONT=arial, sans-serif]meaning[/FONT] of the [FONT=arial, sans-serif]name Donald is: Great chief, world mighty. From the Gaelic Domhnall. The [/FONT]name Donald has been borne by a number of early Scottish kings. Famous Bearers: Billionaire Donald Trump; actorDonald Sutherland.
[h=2]Ali's women - and a very fractured family: How boxing legend's train-wreck private life has left his legacy to his loved ones marred by jealousy, bitterness and division[/h]
Married four times and a serial adulterer, Muhammad Ali's train-wreck private life could lead to another titanic rumble as his wives and children do battle for his legacy. The legendary boxer was closer to some of his nine children than others, with his fourth wife, Lonnie, essentially barring his only son, Muhammad Jr, from his life. She also had her husband's younger son, Rahman, arrested after he moved into the Clay family home after falling on harder times. His first wife, Sonja, has died, but the other two - Belinda Boyd and Veronica Porsche - are likely to do battle with Lonnie for Ali's legacy.
Married four times, he was a serial adulterer (fortunately for him, such matters weren’t reported openly in his day) and though he acknowledged nine children plus an adopted son, there are many others, all across America, who claim him as their father.
Some have emerged from his train-wreck private life in far better shape than others. Having taken up boxing against his express wishes, his daughter Laila, 37, has become a B-list celebrity.
Some of her sisters have traded on their father’s name to succeed in business. But contrast their fortunes with those of his only – known – natural son, Muhammad Ali Junior, now 43.
Two years ago, I was appalled to find him living, with his wife and two infant daughters, in one of Chicago’s most notorious ghettos among drug-dealers and gangsters.
They are still there today, cramped into damp, sparsely furnished tenement flat provided rent-free by Junior’s father-in-law, and surviving on welfare hand-outs and food-stamps. His is a sorry story indeed.
One of the four children born to Ali’s abandoned second wife, Belinda Boyd, ‘Junior’ was woefully neglected by his absentee father as a child, and badly bullied by boys who wanted to prove they could beat up the legendary champion’s son.
Perhaps as a result, he is a pitifully lost and confused character who has spent his life alternately trying to live up to his illustrious name – and making a few dollars from it on the side - and to escape it.
+14
Lonnie had Ali's brother Rahman arrested after he took possession of the Clay’s old family house and removed some of the furniture
During our meeting, over breakfast at a cheap diner he frequents, Junior recalled how, at his father’s 50th birthday party, Ali took him aside for what would prove to be their only heart-to-heart conversation.
‘He told me he was afraid what might happen to him in the afterlife because of some of the things he’s done,’ said Junior. ‘I told him that whatever had gone on in the past, I still loved him, and his eyes filled with tears.’
He was then 21, and says he spent much of the ensuing 20 years trying to rebuild a relationship with his ‘Daddy’.
But he claims to have been thwarted at every turn by Ali’s fourth wife Lonnie, who regarded him – unfairly, he insists - as a sponger and banished him from Ali’s life altogether after learning how he had tried to sell a pair of his father’s boxing gloves.
Though he desperately wanted to say his goodbyes to his father, he says he was kept at arm’s length until Ali drew his last breath. Those who defend Lonnie say her main concern was always to protect her husband.
Whenever he phoned and asked to speak to his father, Junior says, he was told curtly that Ali was sleeping or otherwise engaged.
Then there is Muhammad Ali’s younger brother, Rahman, 71, who was once inseparable from him. Indeed, Rahman was with the 11-year-old Cassius Clay (as he then was) on the very day he discovered his passion for boxing.
It happened, as he likes to recall, in 1953, when they went together to Louisville police station to report the theft of Cassius’s bike. While they were waiting, he wandered downstairs into the police boxing gym, saw the officers sparring, and was instantly enthralled.
Rahman remained at the great man’s side as he rose to greatness, and stuck by him loyally during the years when his heavyweight belt was taken away because of his refusal to go to Vietnam.
Yet after Lonnie took over the running of Ali’s personal and business affairs, and set about ridding Ali of the hangers-on who had milked his millions and helped reduce him to bankruptcy as his career faded (his own abject business judgment also played its part), he too became an outcast.
Ali’s long-time friend Howard Gosser told me how Lonnie even had Rahman arrested on hearing how he had taken possession of the Clay’s old family house and removed some of the furniture.
After death of their mother, Odessa, Rahman was in such dire straits that he moved into the ramshackle, clapboard property in Louisville. However, the deeds had been left to Ali – and as his wife held power of attorney over his affairs, she used the law to recover the property, including the missing furniture, Mr Gosser claims.
Cocooned by his illness, one wonders how much Ali - who was loyal to his friends and relatives to a fault - knew about what was going on.
So who is to blame for the tangled mess? Some point the finger at Lonnie, Ali’s childhood neighbour, who gave up a promising career with Kraft foods to care for Ali when his illness took hold, and married him in 1986.
Though few doubt her devotion, they say she is keenly aware of his wealth, now said to be around £60million, and sure to accumulate posthumously, like that of Elvis and Michael Jackson.
Others maintain that, by ruthlessly purging his grasping acolytes and wresting control of his financial affairs with great acuity, she saved him from penury, thus making his decline as comfortable as possible.
By DAVID JONES FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 05:36, 4 June 2016 | UPDATED: 12:27, 4 June 2016
Though the former heavyweight champion strove to present himself as a patriarchal figure, and clearly loved his disparate family in his own aberrant way, his son Ali Junior says the boxer took after his own father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, a philandering Kentucky artist.
Clean-cut and abidingly polite until he achieved fame, after he married for the first time – to Sonja Roi, a sassy cocktail waitress with whom he spent just one, tempestuous year – everything changed.
Though he converted to Islam, and was no doubt sincere in his faith, he sewed his wild oats at every opportunity. Meanwhile, he quickly divorced Sonja and married Belinda, who was just 15 and working in a Los Angeles bakery run by the Nation of Islam when his roving eye fell on her.
Then came Veronica Porsche, a statuesque model with whom he began an adulterous affair whilst supposedly in monastic training for the Rumble in the Jungle, in Zaire; and finally Lonnie – with countless others in between.
Sonja recently passed away, but the other Ali wives are very much with us and eager to stake a claim to having been his main woman.
Now working as a nurse in Florida, Belinda is said to be ready to publish a tell-all book about their years together. In a new documentary film about the fighter, called I Am Ali, Veronica – while conceding that ‘he wasn’t a faithful husband’ – swears her undying love for him.
But it is Lonnie (who took no part in the film, and pointedly declined to attend the premiere last autumn) who has been with him the longest. She will act as executor of his will.
His send-off will doubtless be a huge global occasion to match those memorable fights, and we can expect at least some members of his family to take ringside seats, alongside the statesman and superstars.
When the service is over, however, the gloves will be off. Then we might see another titanic rumble, as Muhammad Ali’s wives and children – legitimate or otherwise – do battle for his legacy.
Some have emerged from his train-wreck private life in far better shape than others. Having taken up boxing against his express wishes, his daughter Laila, 37, has become a B-list celebrity.
Some of her sisters have traded on their father’s name to succeed in business. But contrast their fortunes with those of his only – known – natural son, Muhammad Ali Junior, now 43.
Two years ago, I was appalled to find him living, with his wife and two infant daughters, in one of Chicago’s most notorious ghettos among drug-dealers and gangsters.
They are still there today, cramped into damp, sparsely furnished tenement flat provided rent-free by Junior’s father-in-law, and surviving on welfare hand-outs and food-stamps. His is a sorry story indeed.
One of the four children born to Ali’s abandoned second wife, Belinda Boyd, ‘Junior’ was woefully neglected by his absentee father as a child, and badly bullied by boys who wanted to prove they could beat up the legendary champion’s son.
Perhaps as a result, he is a pitifully lost and confused character who has spent his life alternately trying to live up to his illustrious name – and making a few dollars from it on the side - and to escape it.
+14
Lonnie had Ali's brother Rahman arrested after he took possession of the Clay’s old family house and removed some of the furniture
During our meeting, over breakfast at a cheap diner he frequents, Junior recalled how, at his father’s 50th birthday party, Ali took him aside for what would prove to be their only heart-to-heart conversation.
‘He told me he was afraid what might happen to him in the afterlife because of some of the things he’s done,’ said Junior. ‘I told him that whatever had gone on in the past, I still loved him, and his eyes filled with tears.’
He was then 21, and says he spent much of the ensuing 20 years trying to rebuild a relationship with his ‘Daddy’.
But he claims to have been thwarted at every turn by Ali’s fourth wife Lonnie, who regarded him – unfairly, he insists - as a sponger and banished him from Ali’s life altogether after learning how he had tried to sell a pair of his father’s boxing gloves.
Though he desperately wanted to say his goodbyes to his father, he says he was kept at arm’s length until Ali drew his last breath. Those who defend Lonnie say her main concern was always to protect her husband.
Whenever he phoned and asked to speak to his father, Junior says, he was told curtly that Ali was sleeping or otherwise engaged.
Then there is Muhammad Ali’s younger brother, Rahman, 71, who was once inseparable from him. Indeed, Rahman was with the 11-year-old Cassius Clay (as he then was) on the very day he discovered his passion for boxing.
It happened, as he likes to recall, in 1953, when they went together to Louisville police station to report the theft of Cassius’s bike. While they were waiting, he wandered downstairs into the police boxing gym, saw the officers sparring, and was instantly enthralled.
Rahman remained at the great man’s side as he rose to greatness, and stuck by him loyally during the years when his heavyweight belt was taken away because of his refusal to go to Vietnam.
Yet after Lonnie took over the running of Ali’s personal and business affairs, and set about ridding Ali of the hangers-on who had milked his millions and helped reduce him to bankruptcy as his career faded (his own abject business judgment also played its part), he too became an outcast.
Ali’s long-time friend Howard Gosser told me how Lonnie even had Rahman arrested on hearing how he had taken possession of the Clay’s old family house and removed some of the furniture.
After death of their mother, Odessa, Rahman was in such dire straits that he moved into the ramshackle, clapboard property in Louisville. However, the deeds had been left to Ali – and as his wife held power of attorney over his affairs, she used the law to recover the property, including the missing furniture, Mr Gosser claims.
Cocooned by his illness, one wonders how much Ali - who was loyal to his friends and relatives to a fault - knew about what was going on.
So who is to blame for the tangled mess? Some point the finger at Lonnie, Ali’s childhood neighbour, who gave up a promising career with Kraft foods to care for Ali when his illness took hold, and married him in 1986.
Though few doubt her devotion, they say she is keenly aware of his wealth, now said to be around £60million, and sure to accumulate posthumously, like that of Elvis and Michael Jackson.
Others maintain that, by ruthlessly purging his grasping acolytes and wresting control of his financial affairs with great acuity, she saved him from penury, thus making his decline as comfortable as possible.
By DAVID JONES FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 05:36, 4 June 2016 | UPDATED: 12:27, 4 June 2016
Though the former heavyweight champion strove to present himself as a patriarchal figure, and clearly loved his disparate family in his own aberrant way, his son Ali Junior says the boxer took after his own father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, a philandering Kentucky artist.
Clean-cut and abidingly polite until he achieved fame, after he married for the first time – to Sonja Roi, a sassy cocktail waitress with whom he spent just one, tempestuous year – everything changed.
Though he converted to Islam, and was no doubt sincere in his faith, he sewed his wild oats at every opportunity. Meanwhile, he quickly divorced Sonja and married Belinda, who was just 15 and working in a Los Angeles bakery run by the Nation of Islam when his roving eye fell on her.
Then came Veronica Porsche, a statuesque model with whom he began an adulterous affair whilst supposedly in monastic training for the Rumble in the Jungle, in Zaire; and finally Lonnie – with countless others in between.
Sonja recently passed away, but the other Ali wives are very much with us and eager to stake a claim to having been his main woman.
Now working as a nurse in Florida, Belinda is said to be ready to publish a tell-all book about their years together. In a new documentary film about the fighter, called I Am Ali, Veronica – while conceding that ‘he wasn’t a faithful husband’ – swears her undying love for him.
But it is Lonnie (who took no part in the film, and pointedly declined to attend the premiere last autumn) who has been with him the longest. She will act as executor of his will.
His send-off will doubtless be a huge global occasion to match those memorable fights, and we can expect at least some members of his family to take ringside seats, alongside the statesman and superstars.
When the service is over, however, the gloves will be off. Then we might see another titanic rumble, as Muhammad Ali’s wives and children – legitimate or otherwise – do battle for his legacy.
4 killed in Tel Aviv terror attack; 2 arrested
Four people were killed Wednesday night when terrorists opened fire at a popular market complex in Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities said.
Two terrorists were captured, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, with one shot and the second arrested at the scene. The attackers had dressed as Hasidic Jews, according to a law enforcement source briefed by Israeli officials.
Four people were killed Wednesday night when terrorists opened fire at a popular market complex in Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities said.
Two terrorists were captured, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, with one shot and the second arrested at the scene. The attackers had dressed as Hasidic Jews, according to a law enforcement source briefed by Israeli officials.
